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Don't you just love the start of a New Year? No matter what has happened over the last twelve months, what might be currently going on or what you're anticipating in the near future, January 1st always feels like a break, a fresh start and the chance to move forward into a new season.

It's an easy time to feel motivated and inspired to make changes, meet goals, and achieve new things. The trouble is, for most of us, that inspiration seems to wane a few weeks into the New Year. We start to encounter challenges, stresses, unexpected changes and bumps in the road; we lose some of our gumption and decide it's easier to stay where we are than let things get messy for a bit while we work through the challenges.

So knowing that this is all pretty inevitable, what do we do?

There are many people wiser than us to look to for guidance and tools for this, but we want to suggest two things: one that we are borrowing from one of those wiser than us people, and one of our own.

One: we agree with Brene Brown and suggest you "lean into the discomfort of the work." Know that things are going to be hard at times, that it will be messy and uncomfortable at others, but that at the end, if you are willing to work through it, you'll come out stronger, wiser, and better than you were before. Plus, when we lean into the discomfort, it actually makes it easier to deal with. (Disclaimer: this does NOT apply to injury or significant pain while running.)

Two: we believe you should move through it. Yes - this sounds a lot like what Brene suggests, but we mean physically. Moving your body is one of the best things that you can do to handle anything that comes your way. Running can literally change you not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. It releases those amazing happy pill endorphins; strengthens your body which in turns increases your confidence and makes your mentally stronger; and gives you access to an incredible supportive and understanding community of like-minded people who have your back in running and in life.

Movement is Change, and whether you already know this to be true or whether you have yet to experience it for yourself, we invite you to join us this year, however often you can, to lean into all the year will bring - the good and the bad - and to run/walk through it, so that at the end of this year we can be proud of all we have accomplished and who we have become, individually and together.

We can't wait to see you this year and to see you become more of who you are meant to be. We will be here for you every step of the way.